Same Auld lang Syne
by NAOA
Summary: By chance Rogue and Gambit meet in a supermarket. An early holiday fic. Romy


**Thank you** **to everyone who read my previous story 'Taxi' and encourged me to write this one. Agin, I incorporated some texts from a couple of songs but it's not really a song fic. The songs I drew from and incorporated into the text are 'Same Auld Lang Syne' by Dan Fogelberg and 'If you could read my mind' by Gordon Lightfoot. Both are excellent ballads, well the first one is a ballad, but anyway, I had to tweak them a bit for the story (to make them less sad) but here's an early Christmas story for Rogue and Gambit.**

**Please enjoy!**

Snow whirled around in the dark night. It bit and clawed, trying to cling to the few people out late on Christmas Eve. Remy drew his coat tighter around him and headed into the warm electric glow of the grocery store. The dry air of the heater hit him with a blast and wrapped around, him melting the snow and causing a momentary numbness.

He picked his way through the aisles, not really looking for anything. A pack of cokes, a bag of Cheetos. He cradled them in his arm. He wandered aimlessly, putting off the time when he would have to go back out into the cold. It was late and the clerk was barely awake, staring with half-interest at a mini T.V. . He smiled a little, the clerk was watching Buffy and not bothering to keep the volume down. He could hear Buffy and Angel yelling about something.

He wondered into the frozen foods aisle and looked for something to take home. He picked over some store brand meat but turned it down. He'd come to the right place for snacks, not quality. Up ahead a woman was checking the expiration date on a carton of eggnog, he watched her, admiring her and then as she turned slightly to put it in her basket he caught sight of her face and was stunned.

He rushed forward and grabbed at her sleeve, only pinching it for a brief second but it was enough, she turned to look at him and her eyes flew wide. They both made an awkward fumble and she dropped her purse. He bent to help her pick up the scattered contents as a tube of lipstick rolled away under a metal shelf. He felt around under it, looking for the tube and found it, right next to a sticky patch his hand had unmercifully failed to miss. He drew out grimacing as she put a hand over her mouth, laughing a little.

He took a good look at himself, a grown man lying flat on his stomach on a dirty grocery store floor and laughed too, getting to his feet and helping her up, even though she didn't really need the help.

She smiled a little sadly and hitched her bag over her shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Remy. Thanks for the help."

He smiled, grateful for her words, grateful that she was speaking to him. Thrilled and stunned at the chance encounter. "Merry Christmas, Rogue."

He followed her up to the checkout counter and they talked aimlessly. He didn't want to ruin the mood by trying to talk too much. He did that all too often anyway and it always ended in a fight. The conversation dragged a bit and he wished for a cigarette but remembered he'd quit.

He asked her to a drink and she nodded and he carried her groceries to the car, even though it was only a single carton of eggnog.

They drove around for a little bit but nothing was open and he thought himself a fool for thinking it would be, nobody in their right mind would be out on Christmas Eve.

Eventually they found a liquor store still open and bought a bottle of wine and parked under a street lamp with the heater turned up. He asked her what she had been up to and they talked for a little bit, he missed hearing her talk. They took turns between the wine and laughed a little at the sheer oddity of the situation.

She told him she had gone out for the eggnog and he said he was out for snacks. They laughed dismally because they were both spending a holiday alone doing last minute shopping and it was a terrible way to spend a holiday and it was so like them. He gave her a toast and she laughed again, her eyes looked bright and happy and God, he loved them.

She told him about her time with the Avengers and her new life. She would have liked to say she loved it but she had never liked to lie, and so she didn't say anything.

He told her she looked good. Her eyes were as green as he remembered. He told her how beautiful they were and in her eyes he wasn't sure if he saw doubt of gratitude shining back.

"You know, I saw you once or twice, around town." She said softly. "And every time I read in the papers about some place getting robbed, I could only think of you." She laughed and so did he, glad she was thinking about him at all. "It looks like you've been doing good."

He took a drink and nodded and he told her about his adventures. She listened and smiled. They made a point not to talk about the past. It was all light and painfully empty conversation. The bottle soon ran out and even with the heater on they grew cold. He wanted to ask her to come back to his place, wanted to ask her to spend Christmas with him but he wasn't sure how she'd react and he didn't want to ruin what they had.

Then she shivered and rubbed her arm and tossed her hair. "Can we go back to your place, Remy? I'd like to talk some more."

His heart leaped and he nodded, it was her car. He gave her directions and they pulled up in front of his apartment building.

"Which floor?"

"Pent house," He said with a grin, a little bit embarrassed, a little bit proud, a little bit hoping she would be impressed.

She threw her head back and laughed. She thought it was just like him. She drew her coat around herself and they hurried on, experimentally he put a hand on her back and escorted her and to his relief she didn't make him remove it. With the groceries and the empty bottle they crowded onto the elevator, probably the only ones awake at the hour and with laughter reminded each other to stay quiet.

They shuffled down the hall to his room and closed the door, happy to be inside and warm. She threw herself down on his couch and removed her coat while he put the cokes and the eggnog in the refrigerator and came back. She was looking around the apartment and he thought about how long it had been since they ad been alone like this. She had never seen this apartment. Her eyes caught a jeweled necklace in a coin dish and she gave him a knowing look. He grinned in a comically guilty fashion, shrugging.

He drew back the curtains and they watched the snow for a minute and then her hand curled over his and he gave it a small squeeze back.

There was a pause and then his stomach growled and he remembered why he'd gone out in the first place. It sent them both into fits of laughter and he went and got the cokes and Cheetos again. They shared them and had a picnic on the coffee table, talking of old adventures and old friends.

They never talked about themselves. Not as a couple anyway. Maybe they'd grown up enough to know that if either of them did it would only lead to a fight.

They flicked on the T.V. and watched an old black and white love epic, the silent kind where the actors had to be doubly expressive because nobody could hear them scream or say 'I love you'. Rogue watched with a romantic expression as the hero and his lover tried desperately to be together in a world that conspired to tear them apart. He could relate to that hapless hero. A romantic fool. The poor man was silently screaming as his love was carried across the sea and she was screaming back, fighting her captors tooth and nail to be with him.

He settled back against the couch. They were sitting on the floor now, finishing the Cheetos. He wondered what she would do if she could have read his mind. He wondered what he would do if he could have read hers.

He wanted to be like the hero in the movie that had just braved death and torture to be with his lover. Who just a second ago had swept her up in his arms as they shared a Hollywood kiss and the camera faded out. But this was the real world, not some romance novel or movie and hero's failed and they had tried it. She had tried that story and she wouldn't try it again because the ending was just too hard to take.

But maybe it was a series and there would be a squeal. He hoped for that.

Maybe in the sequel he would win her over for good. Maybe in the sequel they would be together. He put his arm around her and she leaned against him, seemingly not even realizing she was doing so.

Halfway through another movie she drifted off to sleep, leaning against his shoulder and it was such a wonderful feeling that he himself followed shortly after, taking just enough time to appreciate the situation and the girl next to him. This was the way he thought it should be.

His last thought before falling asleep was that this was a much better way to spend Christmas and he couldn't have picked a better person to be spending it with.

The next morning Remy awoke to find himself wrapped in a blanket on the floor, surrounded by empty coke cans and spilled Cheetos. He looked around for Rogue, half afraid she'd come to some awful realization and fled but he needn't have worried.

She was standing looking out the sliding glass doors to the balcony, sipping coffee and watching the snow swirl around the New York skyline. She turned and smiled. Her hair was still damp from a shower and she had borrowed some of his clothes. He had to admire the way they hung from her hips.

"Morning, Remy." She said, smiling through a mouthful of teeth.

He ran a hand through his hair and grinned. "What time is it?"

"'Round ten. I hope you don't mind, I made myself at home."

He shook his head and she knew he wouldn't have minded anyway.

He puled himself up, stiff from sleeping on the floor, and made his way over to the windows to look outside. "I ain't too fond of this weather." He said.

She laughed and nodded. Inside he kept the apartment blissfully warm, almost suffocatingly so. "Merry Christmas, Remy." She whispered.

He grinned. "Sure is. Merry Christmas" He hoped she wouldn't go home yet. "Guess we should open presents."

She laughed a little because she knew he was joking. Sure, he had a few from friends and family but they had nothing for each other.

He settled back on the couch and they talked some more, friendly conversation like the night before but all too soon she had to go. She said her friends would be missing her but it was good to see him again and they should get together again soon but he was sure it would never be arranged. Sure, it would happen, but not on purpose. She gave him a friendly hug because she couldn't give him a kiss and they said goodbye.

He watched her leave with a heavy heart but the he thought that he wasn't really that sad anymore. He was happy with what he'd had for the night. Maybe he'd give Jubilee a call and see how her Christmas was going. She''d be delighted that he'd spent the night with Rogue. He leaned against the door frame and watched her walk down the hall. Watched her elevator doors close and even watched the lights above until he knew she was in the lobby.

Then he shut the door and looked around the room, still feeling her presence and he told himself that it had been the best Christmas in a long time and if he had his way, next Christmas would be even better because next Christmas they would have presents and she wouldn't leave. Next Christmas he would have her back.

_We drank a toast to innocence_  
_We drank a toast to now_  
_And tried to reach beyond the emptiness_  
_But neither one knew how._

_We drank a toast to innocence_  
_We drank a toast to time_  
_Reliving in our eloquence_  
_Another 'auld lang syne'..._

**Thank you very much for reading! **


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